| Project title | New Cures for Brain Cancer, Using Novel Technology for Cancer-Cell Targeted Drug Discovery |
|---|---|
Grant Amount | $80,000 |
Institution | University of New South Wales |
Investigator Team | Principal investigator Dr. Jeremy Henson |
Grant Type | Fellowship |
Years | 2015 – 2016 |
Half of childhood brain tumours use a cancer immortality mechanism to grow and spread, called ALT. This mechanism is not used in normal cells, and provides a specific target for the development of new treatments. Dr. Henson will use patented technology to measure ALT activity to generate potential ALT-targeted cancer cures.
“If we can block the ALT mechanism then we can kill these cancer cells without harming the patient. Of all the cancer types, brain cancer patients have the most to gain from ALT-targeted cancer treatments.”
Dr. Jeremy Henson
Progress
We have completed the proof-of-principle (manual) drug discovery & identified four chemotherapy drugs (not standardly used for treating brain cancer) that may be effective against the 25% of brain cancers that use the ALT immortality mechanism and hence improve the outcome for these patients. Furthermore, we have used this knowledge to devise a novel treatment strategy for ALT+ cancer that we are currently testing in the lab, with promising initial results.
We have completed the automation of our technology and on track to undertake the final drug discovery, which will hopefully make a significant improvement for brain cancer patient survival. Our technology is already being used worldwide as the main tool for measuring ALT (cancer mechanism) activity and is vital for investigating how the ALT mechanism works and is regulated. Automation of our technology will speed up understanding how the ALT mechanism works and speed up the identification of new gene targets for curing brain cancer.